The point, of course, is that addiction is not a metaphor.
There are no secret meanings to the cravings, no lack of willpower that
explains everything, and no deep and meaningful insights about the
emptiness at the center of our fat, imperialist capitalist bastard
culture.
Addiction is not the montage of needle, dilated pupil, blood, the
sleepy orgasm of the rush hitting you where it counts in a sequence
speeded up by music that's going 167 beats a minute.
This is what addiction is, what it comes down to in the cold morning
after where the only thing less romantic than the empty bottles of Wild
Turkey lying on the shit-colored carpet is the puke you've been
sleeping in:
Walk into a room decorated for some sort of Merry Christmas, lots of
tinsel and cheap lights and hand-made decorations and at least one
silly group picture. Note that there's a big bowl of what was probably
eggnog drained on the counter. Realize that you're hearing interesting
whispery noises from the office and do a quick, discreet reconnoiter
toward the office.
Feel grimly pleased that the British pansy is far too busy trying to
remove some skinny flat-chested girl's bra to pay attention to your
presence in the lobby. Even if you wanted to explain to him that it's
only a two-hook lace thing and it shouldn't be so goddamn difficult for
a straight man, you didn't come to gloat or to risk your life or to be
smart.
You came because you're an addict and you're not smart or dumb, you're
craving. You tried hard to quit, and you managed a good eight months
somehow, and now you're off the wagon, drove a goddamn F-150 from Tulsa
that you borrowed from your momma's fuckin' inbred Okie cousin to be
incognito, and you're here.
Craving, walking upstairs and craving the thing you left California to get the fuck away from.
Fuck. That would be the point, wouldn't it?
To fuck. To be fucked. To--
Sweet Christ and his merciful angels, that wasn't a baby fucking crying, was it?
You take the stairs three at a time, wondering what the fuck is going
on in this place. Holiday parties, new skinny flat-chested girls, and
now, the cry of a baby. Maybe it's all a hallucination, but that
handjob you gave Little Ty before you knocked him cold and stole his
truck wasn't a dream for goddamn sure. You're going to assume it's all
real.
He's standing in the hallway on the second floor, and sure as you know
that he's going to beat hell out of you 'til you get off, he's holding
a motherfucking baby. The real fucking deal. Your heart starts pounding
because you've never seen him look at anything like he's looking at
that baby and you know, in the pit of your stomach, you know.
It's hers.
The look he gives you hits you in the gut like one of his caresses.
"I should have guessed you'd be back," he says. "Trying to get revenge
on Darla through her child, Lindsey? That's so very like you, but I'll
kill you and use your corpse to feed the ducks before you lay one
finger on him."
Turn around and go back to Oklahoma. Every rational impulse in your
bodyscreams that you have to go. You have to get away from Angel and
his son, Darla's son, get out and go, but instead the smile you know
makes his cock twitch finds itself on your lips.
"I don't care if he's her baby, your baby, or that skinny little
teenage girl your pansy British guy's fucking's baby," says you,
letting your tongue dart out to wet your lip. "I didn't come for the
baby."
"She's not a teenager. And Wesley's not fucking her," he says
automatically. Makes you get a rush just hearing him tell you that
you're wrong, even though you're not sure. "And I don't believe you."
"You sure about that?" you say, smiling away at him. "Too much eggnog,
too much frustration, and even nice little girls turn desperate. And
why would I want your baby? You know what I want from you."
He looks at you, the angry look getting softer, though he's got that
baby against him close, bouncing him some to keep him from crying.
Makes you crazy, the way Angel can never just cut to the chase. He
always has to think his way to the obvious ending.
Your veins ache at the way he suddenly licks his lips.
"You were never sane when it came to her," he says. "And this is her son. My son. And I can't trust you."
Eyes closed in frustration, and you try to think of the magic words
that will make Angel put the baby up for a few moments and take care of
this craving before you whip it out and show him just why he can trust
you. The only sounds in the hallway are the baby noises and you
breathing in and out.
"Don't trust me," you suddenly say, shocked at how your cock takes over when you think too much. "Just fuck me."
Addiction is not about willpower. If it were, you'd have been gone
before you ever showed up to this shithole hotel with its whipped
employees and the undead asshole boss who's going to fuck you and give
you back to Wolfram and Hart as a chew-toy.
You open your eyes.
Angel's not there. You start to shake, not sure how much pride you can
give up but pretty sure that it's going to be a lot even if he comes
back soon.
Since you went on the wagon, it's been good for your health. Your
skin's had a lot fewer unexplained bruises and the veins in your neck
have almost recovered from all the trauma. Right now, you'd tear them
all out if you could just--
"I found a sitter," Angel growls into your ear, cold as ice and sweet
as fresh-made lemonade on an August day. "You shouldn't have come back,
Lindsey. I'm going to make you pay for it."
Rational impulses have all been shot to hell. You should get the hell
out of here before you're knocked flat and can't move for a week thanks
to Angel's friendly little devotions. But addiction is not rational.
Addiction is the fact that you need something that makes no sense, that
you need help to stop doing things you already know are stupid.
"I don't care," you tell him, and you fucking mean it. He grabs you by
the scruff of your neck, forces your head around to where his lips are
waiting to attack yours. Sometime during the process, the rest of you
has moved with your head and you're up against him hard.
His lips feel harder and colder than ever and you're being suffocated
by them all of a sudden, his cock as hard as his lips, one arm holding
you against his mouth, the other around your waist, making sure you
feel how much he's going to exploit your addiction.
Teeth against your earlobe, the only warmth in the air stolen from you
and you're still trembling with need, probably as hard as he is, trying
hard not to moan. He bites down on your earlobe and you arch, pushing
your hips forward.
He gives his first order.
"Get on your knees right now and suck me off."
People are crawling all over this hotel and you're a walking dead man
ifanyone else sees you. The voice in your head that was screaming to go
back to Oklahoma is now begging you to ask him to find a better place
than the second story landing of a hotel where any minute, any fucking
minute,someone's going to find you.
You're on your knees so fast that he hasn't even undone his belt. You
know] he'll make it worse if you try to help so you don't, hands
fastened to your sides, eyes focused firmly on his fingers undoing the
front of his pants.
Your daddy's sister, your Aunt Jolene, was a drunk. She told you
once--and this is what you think about as Angel's cock comes loose from
his pants and he guides the back of your head where he wants it to
be--she told you once that she didn't understand people who could be
happy with one drink.
"What the fuck's the point of one drink?"
You're having a hard time not choking at first because Angel's fucking
your mouth hard. You suspect maybe he wants you to gag--but it only
takes two or three thrusts to get into the rhythm, even if he's got you
by the back of the head, making you take every last millimeter of cock.
"I mean, really?" Aunt Jolene, you remember, started off being addicted
to real expensive wine. After the divorce, she went to cheaper red,
cheaper whites, 'til finally all she could afford were those bottles of
Boone's. Four bottles a night and everything was good with Aunt Jolene
'til her liver went out.
"Everything that's good about drinking is the part where you're drunk."
"You should have never come back," Angel growls at you, thrusting hard.
He isn't giving you much chance at technique, just shoving it down your
throat to prove how much of a bitch you really are. "But you just can't
get enough, can you?"
This is getting to be ridiculous. You break a rule, pull his hand off
your head and then you work his cock, changing the pressure, running
your tongue down the underside to his base, up and down, up and down
and he stops growling at you.
Gonna pay for it later, touching him. But that's part of what you came
back for, the paying, the playing, the pain. The pain maybe most of all
and your jaw's getting sore from sucking that cock but it's giving your
own a reason to get harder.
Up and down. Harder, faster. Angel's refusing to make this easy, but that's just more pain for you to suck up like pleasure.
"Oh--fuck--yeah," he suddenly gasps, coming hard and leaving you with a
mouthful to swallow and practically before you do, he pulls you to
yourfeet and slaps you cross the mouth. Feels just like old times.
"Did you like that?" he whispers. "I can feel how hard you are, Lindsey. You want me to make you come, don't you?"
"Yeah," you say, wondering what hoop you've got to jump through now. "Yeah, I do."
"Take your pants off, get on your knees, and get yourself off first.
Then maybe I'll think about it," he says, trying to sound the way you
do when you pretend you don't care. This is your punishment and if you
say a word, he'll kick you the hell out, aching for the big finale,
every nerve and vein and cell screaming because the addiction hasn't
been satisfied.
You take your pants off. You take it all off, kneel in front of the
object of your addiction, and you fasten your hand around your cock,
hating Angel for this. Watching as he does up his pants and sneers at
you because he knows what you are. Thinks he knows, anyway.
Bitch. Whore. Willing to take it any way and any time from him.
And maybe that's true, but he doesn't understand just how addicted you
are, how much you have to have all of this, even the ugly parts that
anyone else would run away from. It's not your choice anymore.
You jerk hard, trying to pull out a quick orgasm so that maybe, just
maybe, you can get off this fucking landing before everyone sees your
vulnerable naked ass kneeling before him. It's not working.
"What's wrong?" he asks, shaking his head as you pump away, eyes
narrowed and watching him. "What are you waiting for, Lindsey? You've
been waiting so long--can't you get yourself off? Or do you need me to
do that, too?"
"Fuck you," you mutter, trying to find the image that'll put you over the edge.
"Pretty soon, Lindsey," he replies and you see it, the future. You,
pushed up against the nearest wall, Angel fucking your ass from behind
and laughing. The laughing is enough to bring you over the edge and you
come in little bursts, feeling like you're nothing more than a
come-drunk, low-down vampire whore who'll beg him to touch you just
once later on.
The screaming in your brain that dragged you to Los Angeles has quieted
down a little. You guess that's something. Not much, but something.
This is addiction. It doesn't go away. You're always either recovering
or not-recovering. Currently, you're not recovering, which is why
you're on your knees, covered in your own come, thinking about how hard
you're going to get fucked later. But it's not a metaphor, not a
hallucination, nothing but what it is.
Addiction. Cravings too big to ignore. An illness that drives you to
doing the stupid things. Something you don't exactly understand.
"Get up, Lindsey," Angel says. The way your body aches when you stand up, you realize that it's not gonna be over anytime soon.